Together
by Vanillasiren
Summary: Once again, based on the Rumple/Regina scenes from Season 2, Episode 2, "We Are Both." A companion piece to "Back Where She Belongs." Rumplestiltskin's POV on meeting - or rather, re-meeting - Regina.


Together

Author's Note: Companion piece to "Back Where She Belongs." Rumplestiltskin's POV on meeting – or rather, re-meeting – Regina. Feedback appreciated.

_Regina._

She's … well, she's young.

More to the point, she's inexperienced. Despite who her mother is, she doesn't know the first thing about magic.

She's _exactly _what he needs.

"What are you?" She asks him. There's no fear in her voice, no trepidation, only a sort of … wonderment, almost child-like, and rather charming in its way, and he can't help but be a bit amused, a bit entranced, even as he scolds her for the rudeness of the question.

"I'm sorry," she says, appropriately chastened, clutching self-consciously at the medallion on the chain around her neck. "I don't really know what I'm doing."

"That much is clear." It's not surprising to him that Cora hasn't instructed her own daughter in magic. After all, that would entail actually giving the poor girl some power, some control of her own destiny, and she "loves" her far too much to do that.

He introduces himself (and the proper pronunciation of his name, which she adorably mangled) with a bow. She's been trained in manners, if not in magic, and she begins to curtsey.

"And I'm –"

"Regina. I know."

"You do?" Again, that wonderment. Such guileless innocence in her voice … it really _is _rather endearing. And naturally, she assumes that he knows her because of Cora, because he "taught" her. He himself would hardly use that word. Oh to be sure, he held up his end of the deal (though she didn't). He showed her how to perform a few useful tricks, but they barely scratched the surface of the magic he knows … though it seemed to have been enough magic for Cora to make her daughter's life miserable, if nothing else.

But with Regina, he plans to do a far more … _thorough_ instruction in the magical arts.

"People say I look like her when she was younger," Regina continues.

"Really?" Curious, he looks her over. Well, people are wrong. For one thing, she doesn't have that lean, greedy look that her mother always had. Cora was certainly fair, with a noble bearing, but personally, he thinks Regina is _far _more beautiful than her mother ever was. Perhaps that's another reason why she secretly resents her, even as she seeks to live out her own ambitions through her daughter.

"I don't see it. No, that's not how I know you." _And I do know you, Regina. I know you better than your mother does. Better than your father does. I know you better than you know yourself, dearie. I know exactly who you are … and what you can become, with my help._

"Oh? How then?" He moves towards her now, circles her. She doesn't shrink away, as he half-expects her to do, though she does clutch the book to herself protectively.

"I knew you long ago, dearie. It's been quite some time, but I knew this day would come. I've been waiting for it."

Oh, it had been so easy. Cora was not nearly as clever as she thought she was. It had been a simple matter, to spin that straw into gold for her, and he had asked a fair price. But she was gluttonous, and she always wanted more, more, _more_. She'd _demanded_ to be taught how to spin, and when he'd refused, she'd demanded to be taught at least _some_ magic. He'd scoffed at first, but then something had occurred to him, and he'd agreed, and made her promise that when the time came, she would give up anything of hers that he desired.

Soon enough, she married and bore a child. She was at least smart enough to realize what the price was then, but she didn't try to run or hide.

He came to her soon after the baby was born. Cora's face looked like it was set in stone.

"Hello again, dearie." His eyes darted towards the crib, and he gave her a feral grin. "Been busy, I see."

Her face twitched, but she said nothing.

"Your dear husband is not here? Doesn't he want to say goodbye as well?"

Her voice was barely above a whisper. "He doesn't know."

Rumplestiltskin giggled. "Planning on telling him she was snatched by an ogre, then?"

"I was thinking of something a bit more plausible, actually." She sounded as though she were working hard to keep her voice steady.

Slowly, he approached the crib. The babe was wrapped in soft blankets, sleeping. As he leaned over, the infant stirred and stretched, and then looked up at him.

"A girl," he said softly. He knew without having to be told. A very pretty little babe indeed, her head already crowned with thick dark hair. Her big brown eyes stared up at him fearlessly, and then … and then she _smiled _at him. He was sure of it.

He waved a finger in front of her face, and she immediately grabbed it, clutching with her tiny little hand, her grip strong and sure. He glanced up at Cora, whose fists were balled up at her sides. She looked like she was trembling with the effort not to rush at him and get him away from her daughter.

With a mad giggle, he scooped the child up in his arms. She still seemed so unafraid, and it surprised and delighted him. She cooed, and giggled back at him, and for a moment, he felt like he still had a heart.

He could remember holding Baelfire this way…

He felt his throat tighten, and hastened to clear it. "What's her name?" He asked Cora, without bothering to look at her.

"Regina." Was there a catch in the woman's voice now, or was he only imagining it?

"Ah. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Oh my little one, you have so much potential …" He finally looked up at Cora. "She's going to be very powerful, dearie, this one is. More powerful than you."

Oh, Cora did not like that at _all_. The look that twisted her features at his statement could not be described in any other way except … _ugly_.

"You can't have her," she said suddenly, but he just giggled again.

"Wouldn't say something like that if I were you! Trust me, you don't want to find out what happens to someone who tries to break one of my deals."

"She's _mine_," Cora snapped, as though she were talking about her horse.

"You can always have another!" He paused. "But since I'm in a generous mood, I'll give you a chance to hold on to this one. I promise not to take her … if you can guess my name."

After that, it was just a simple series of subtle little machinations. Cora thought it was all her, of course, that she triumphed over him with her meager magic, when his name was suddenly emblazoned on the book. She shouted it, and he made a show of being very upset, stomping around like a child, but he could see the things she couldn't, and he could see that she would shape little Regina into the kind of person who would one day seek him out.

So he waited, and he watched. He saw everything. He saw Cora use magic to abuse poor Regina, while her loving but useless father just stood by. He saw Regina grow from a beautiful child into a beautiful young woman, still entirely ignorant of the power she possessed. He saw her sweet and simple love for the equally sweet and simple Daniel, and when Cora pulled the boy's heart out, he flinched, just a bit, and some small part of him wished he had just taken the child that day, to spare her all that pain.

But then, if he'd done that, she wouldn't have grown to be what he needed her to be.

"I knew this day would come," he tells Regina now. "I've been waiting for it. And I'm so happy that we're back where we belong."

"Where's that?"

"Together."

He senses something in her then, some flicker of recognition, and he knows she remembers him. Maybe not consciously, but she remembers. She knows who he is.

And she knows what he's saying is true.

He touches her, gently, caressing her cheeks with his hands. He avoids physical contact as a rule, but with her, it's different. Her skin is soft, the warmth of her so very _human_, and she does not flinch or recoil in the slightest, just looks down, so lovely, and so sad.

When he senses her magic, it gives him a little thrill.

"So … ooh! Powerful." She looks up at him them, wide-eyed in disbelief, but he can already see the wanting, the hunger, began to stir itself inside her.

Oh yes, this one will be strong in magic. Very strong.

_And if he let her, this one just might break him …_

He brushes the thought aside, and he presents her with a gift. It's a way of getting rid of her mother, if a rather unnecessarily convoluted one.

He might have suggested just killing Cora. After all, it would be more prudent to make a permanent end to her potential interference, which could prove irritating, if not effective. But he knows Regina isn't nearly far along enough for that yet, that she would balk at matricide. So for now, all he will require of her is … a little push.

When the time comes, she doesn't disappoint. She breaks her mother's binding spell and pushes her into the mirror, into that annoying little realm known as Wonderland.

She really could be quite magnificent, if she just accepts his offer.

Later, she doesn't seem entirely surprised to see him on the road, and it doesn't take him long to get her to admit how much she loved using magic.

"You've discovered who you are. You could do so much now … if you let me show you how."

"Through magic?"

"Through many things."

Her smile this time is not so guileless. It's colder, slyer. He can see he's already beginning to have an effect on her, corrupting her kind, gentle spirit, and he feels simultaneously excited and saddened at the notion.

"And what do you get out of it?"

"Someday, you'll do something for me." He offers her the book back. "Let me guide you."

She worries, of course, about ending up like her mother, but really, she doesn't need to.

She will be more powerful than Cora ever was. She will be the Evil Queen.

After she accepts, he holds her in his arms, for just a moment, lets her feel the power and energy of his magic, lets it engulf her, lets her breathe it in. Of course, it's different from holding her back then, back when she was smaller and more portable, but she's still so unafraid, she's still drawn to him, and now, he _wants_ her …

Well. He wants her to enact the curse he needs to find his son. That's all there is to it, really.

Doesn't mean he won't enjoy teaching her, though. She really is going to be quite gloriously, wickedly powerful. Even Maleficent won't be able to compete.

"I really am so happy," he whispers, "that we're back where we belong."

"Together," she whispers back, and now he breathes _her _in, with all her latent power simmering to the surface, and the scent of apples on her skin.


End file.
